Understanding And Profiting From The Stock Market Swings

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The wild stock market swings continue, all thanks to Europe. The markets opened sharply lower on the back of more Italian woes. Yields on the Italian 10 year broke 7%. This is what started the Greek debacle and will be the ultimate cause of every other PIIGS country downfall. Most retail investors do not understand the how the yields determine the collapse of a country. Simply put, when a country is so heavily in debt and must borrow, rising borrowing costs trigger the beginning of the end.

Oil is ripping higher today. The United States Oil Fund LP (ETF) (NYSEARCA:USO) is trading at $37.63, +0.20 (+0.53%) . While this may not seem like a major move, the USO traded as low as $36.49 this morning before a major reversal. This reversal is coming on the back of continued concerns over Iran's nuclear ambitions as well as an oil inventory report which was bullish. Looking at the chart from a technical standpoint, the USO hit the 200 moving average today. This should be resistance, short term.

The biggest losers today are the financial stocks. This makes sense due to the possibility that Italy will default or bond holders will at least take a 50% haircut like they did in Greece. The exposure banks have to Europe is somewhat unknown, shown by MF Global's panic bankruptcy. Continued worry will persist from Europe. Stocks like Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C), Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) are all sharply lower.